Li Isprii: Red River Metis Arts and Culture Review

Artist aiming to revitalize Métis rug hooking in a year-long project The little-known, seldom practiced Mtis tradition of making hooked rugs is being revitalized in a major way at the Royal Saskatchewan Museum (RSM) in ...

Artist aiming to revitalize Métis rug hooking in a year-long project

Gallery 1C03 presents Beading Métis Resurgence | University of Winnipeg News Five brilliant artists honour Métis cultural icons and Michif knowledge systems through beading at Gallery1C03’s upcoming exhibit Beading Métis Resurgence, that runs from Thursday, February 12 to…

Five brilliant Métis artists honour Michif culture and knowledge systems while forging new artistic trajectories through their exquisite, beaded creations in Gallery @1c03.bsky.social's new exhibition Beading Métis Resurgence, which opens tomorrow with a reception from 4 to 6 p.m.

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September/October 2020: The Land Back Issue In our special 60-page Land Back issue, we address how to return land in so-called Canada to Indigenous Peoples, and encourage the flourishing of Indigenous laws, life, and governance on those territo...

Land Back looks a lot of different ways, and until we fully dismantle colonialism, none of those ways are perfect. Yes, it can even look like purchasing land. But we don't get the luxury of waiting for perfection.

briarpatchmagazine.com/issues/view/...

White text on a blue-green background decorated with small, white, dot-painted flowers reads, “[Stylized Li Isprii Logo], Book Review: Inkwo for When the Starving Return”

In a white frame on a blue-green background decorated with small, white, dot-painted flowers a poster for “Inkwo for When the Starving Return” appears. The image features the protagonist’s young face, against the backdrop of an icy landscape. Hostile figures lurk at the bottom of the frame beneath the title.

A quote in white text on a blue-green background decorated with small, white, dot-painted flowers reads, “They say that unless there is snow on the ground, you should never speak the name of the wheetago out loud...”

Jeremy Allard reviews Amanda Strong's wintery stop-motion film Inkwo for When the Starving Return, based on the short story Wheetago War by Richard Van Camp. In a future stalked by starving monsters, a young hero must learn to harness their medicine and fight back.

www.liisprii.ca/magazine/202...

Sash projects weave together school spirit, Métis culture A Métis artist is taking her loom-weaving kit on the road to teach students about an iconic staple in her ancestors’ wardrobe and promote school spirit.

A Métis artist is taking her loom-weaving kit on the road to teach students about an iconic staple in her ancestors’ wardrobe and promote school spirit.

Rows of book covers line the top and bottom of the image. In the centre, white text on a light blue background reads, “[Stylized Li Isprii Logo], Metis Reads, February 2026”

The February edition of Metis Reads is here! Featuring illustration work by Natasha Donovan, Rheal McGregor, and other titles of interest. Jump in and find a few great books available for pre-order!

#Metis 🌎📚💙

www.liisprii.ca/magazine/202...

Graphic with a close-up photo of an elegant, navy velvet boot with red laces and intricate colourful beadwork. Text at right reads "Beading Métis Resurgence, Daivd Heinrichs, Vi Houssin, Claire Johnston, Jennine Krauchi, Brianna Oversby, Curated by Jennifer Gibson and Cathy Mattes, February 12 - April 17, 2026. Logos for Gallery 1C03, University of Winnipeg and Winnipeg Arts Council appear along the bottom.

📣NEW EXHIBIT📣
Beading Métis Resurgence
February 12 - April 17, 2026

Five brilliant Métis artists honour Michif culture and knowledge systems while forging new artistic trajectories through their exquisite beaded creations. Opening reception: Feb 12, 4-6 pm!

bit.ly/4khd8yv

#UWinnipeg #Gallery1C03

Indigenous Writes “Reading Indigenous Writes, you feel that you are having a conversation over coffee with a super-smart friend, someone who refuses to simplify, who chooses to amplify, who is unafraid to kick against ...

2026 marks the ten-year anniversary of Indigenous Writes: A Guide to First Nations, Métis & Inuit Issues in Canada!

Have you seen the gorgeous cover of the second edition coming to mark the occasion? You can preorder now!

www.portageandmainpress.com/Books/I/Indi...

New Book - Putting Down Roots: Métis Agency, Land Use, and Women’s Food Labour in a Qu’Appelle Valley Road Allowance Community Putting Down Roots explores Métis women’s land-based labour and resilience in Qu’Appelle road allowance communities amid colonial displacement.

"They were places where cultural continuity and connection to the land endured, and where everyday practices—particularly women’s work in food production—sustained families and affirmed Métis identity." - Cheryl Troupe

niche-canada.org/2025/08/08/m...

#envhist #cdnhist #metis #foodhistory

Sovereign Nations: How Canada’s Indigenous Brewers Are Making Craft Beer Their Own Discover how Canada's Indigenous brewers are reclaiming sovereignty in craft beer, honoring their heritage while navigating a painful legacy.

Hey, I didn’t know the article came out — if anyone wants to read up on Indigenous brewers in Canada (including me!), here’s a good place to start.

A close up image of colourful Metis beadwork on a dark background fills the top and bottom of the frame. In the centre, white text on an orange background reads, “[Stylized Li Isprii Logo], Spotlight on Metis Beadwork Artists”

Red River Metis beadwork artists work in an incredible range of techniques and styles, from appliqué to beadweaving, historic to photo-realism, gallery pieces to earrings. Today in Li Isprii, we're highlighting eight artists whose range and creativity inspire us.

www.liisprii.ca/magazine/202...

This is a graphic of the English and Michif language book cover for the 2026 Family Literacy Day celebration. The book is “Kohkum’s Royal Bannock” by Wilfred Burton, illustrated by Hawlii Pichette, with Michif translation by Irma Klyne and Larry Fayant. The book cover shows a boy and his kohkum holding their hands up in celebration after baking all the bannock, together, for the Queen’s visit. The logo of the publisher, Thistledown Press, is in the upper right-hand corner. Under that, there is a QR code to the mobile landing page for this livestream reading event. The caption reads “Livestream Coming Soon” beside a version of the Saskatchewan Literacy Network logo designed for this event: it has a stylized mixing bowl for bannock in front of the Network’s stylized book and globe, symbolizing the world of opportunities possible through literacy. The post is from the Saskatchewan Literacy Network www.saskliteracy.ca

Family Literacy Day is coming soon! Join us online, January 27, as Saskatchewan author Wilfred Burton shares his book 📚 “Kohkum’s Royal Bannock” and answers your questions live!

Register free page.saskliteracy.ca/bannock
@thistledownpress.bsky.social

#FamilyLiteracyDay #FLD2026 #SaskLiteracy

‘Good storytelling is good medicine’: Metis filmmaker bringing lived experience to the silver screen On the surface, ‘Ancestral Beasts’ is a horror flick steeped in Indigenous lore, but at its core, the upcoming film is a deeply personal look at Metis writer/director/producer Tim Riedel’s childhood.

‘Good storytelling is good medicine’: Metis filmmaker bringing lived experience to the silver screen

Red River Rose by Carole Lindstrom As addressed in an endnote, Anishinaabe/Métis author Lindstrom (Autumn Peltier, Water Warrior) pulls inspiration from the North-...

Anishinaabe/Métis author Carole Lindstrom “pulls inspiration from the North-West Resistance of 1885 in Saskatchewan” to deliver the middle grade novel RED RIVER ROSE, a “rousing historical tale about standing up for what one believes in”

White text on a blue-green background decorated with small, white, dot-painted flowers reads, “[Stylized Li Isprii Logo], Book Review: Finding Flora by Elinor Florence”

In a white frame on a blue-green background decorated with small, white, dot-painted flowers the poster image for “Finding Flora” appears. The cover features a painted prairie landscape in warm greens, with a cream-coloured sky. The title appears in large curling letters.

A quote in white text on a blue-green background decorated with small, white, dot-painted flowers reads, “Florence emphasizes that the happy ending is an important part of her brand, noting that readers today are weary of dark, disturbing content and want to be inspired.”

For readers who might normally steer clear of "Western" fiction, Finding Flora by Metis author Elinor Florence is an opportunity to dip a toe back into the genre. Jeremy Allard found it fun, light, and romantic, without the negative tropes.

#metis #indigenous 🌎📚💙

www.liisprii.ca/magazine/202...

Same! We’re very excited to see all the projects you, and Pemmican Publications, have in the works!

We’ve been wondering when they’d be releasing a new catalogue! The website has been under construction for a long time.

Beautiful work!

Give us a heads up when the book is coming out and we’ll feature it in our Metis Reads round up of upcoming releases. 😊

Book Cover: On a salmon pink background, a rainbow road moves across the page behind a circular cutout of sky in the centre. A toy bison sits in the centre of that circle of sky.

@matthewjtetreault.bsky.social debut novel shines with a poignant, but playful character-driven meditation on the struggles of holding onto “la langue,” and marks the emergence of an important new voice.

buff.ly/ReFNf8W

#NeWestPress #CanadianLiterature #CanLit #ReadCanadian #BuyCanadian

Soft as Bones INSTANT NATIONAL BESTSELLER A poetic memoir as intricately woven as a dreamcatcher about overcoming the pain of generational trauma with the power of traditional healing In candid, incisive, and delic...

FEARLESS, POETIC MEMOIR from a Cree, Salish, and Métis writer tells the story not only of her own traumatic family history, but of the brutal generational oppressions that cast painful shadows in too many Indigenous lives. B PLUS

💙📚
#bookreviews
#SmallPressSunday

houseofanansi.com/collections/...

Rows of movie posters line the top and bottom of the image. In the centre, white text on an orange background reads, “[Stylized Li Isprii Logo], Spotlight on Metis Filmmakers”

From avant-garde film festival darlings to gritty dramas, stop-motion animation to rom-coms, Red River Metis filmmakers are making movies, TV shows, and miniseries across genres and the diaspora.

#metis #indigenous #film

www.liisprii.ca/magazine/202...

Métis artist Jean Paul Langlois paints family stories East Vancouver-based Métis artist Jean Paul Langlois brings humour and family storytelling into paintings that are both playful and sharp-edged. Through brilliant saturated colours that spring from po...

“It’s also about being an example of doing work you passionately believe in. You’d do it whether it was worthless. You’ll do it ‘til the day you die. In some ways it’s the most spiritual work there is.”

#Indigenous #Métis #art #storytelling #Vancouver #BC

White text on a dark blue-green background decorated with small, white, dot-painted flowers reads, “[Stylized Li Isprii Logo], Conversations, Returning Spirit to a Land in Crisis: A Conversation with Métis Artist Haley Bassett”

White text on a dark blue-green background decorated with small, white, dot-painted flowers reads, “Haley is an interdisciplinary artist. Her work blends mediums, including beadwork and textiles, cratting sculptures and installations that explore themes of identity, culture, land, heritage, history, labour, and place.” Above the text is a photo of Haley Bassett. She has dark, curly, shoulder length hair, and is wearing a black long sleeve shirt, fringe earrings, and a small smile. She sits in a chair against a beige wall. The bottom edge of a painting in a gilded frame is visible at the top of the image, above her head.

A quote in white text on a dark blue-green background decorated with small, white, dot-painted flowers reads, “Beading came to me when I needed it most. They say beads have spirit, and negotiating with thousands of little spirits is incredibly challenging and immensely gratifying. - Haley Bassett”

Li Isprii presents: an in-depth interview with Haley Bassett, an award-winning Métis interdisciplinary artist. Bassett generously shared stories about her family, her path into the arts, the work she creates, and where she’s going next.

#metis #indigenous #art

www.liisprii.ca/magazine/202...

Shane Belcourt is the son of Indigenous rights activist Tony Belcourt and the brother of Métis artist Christi Belcourt.

On Face to Face, he describes what it’s like to have inspirational family members and what drew him to documentary filmmaking: youtu.be/mRub-ODr3LM

A Boo(k) Week graphic with a black and dark purple background. The covers of Griffin's four book selections are scattered around the centred text which reads "Boo(k) Week Pics With Griffin Bjerke-Clarke." Griffin's author photo is in the bottom right corner.

Closing out Halloweek, Métis author Griffin Bjerke-Clarke shares four contemporary classics you may have missed. These haunting selections remind us that any good tragedy has the potential to create a happy ending.

Find the picks here:
alllitup.ca/book-week-yo...

Haley Bassett is an interdisciplinary artist of Métis and settler descent. Their practice explores identity, culture, land, heritage, and history, with a recent focus on the intersections of identity, place, and labour.

White text on a blue-green background decorated with small, white, dot-painted flowers reads, “[Stylized Li Isprii Logo], Running Toward the Storm: A Review of Kohkom's Babushka by Lianna Makuch and Joleen Ballendine”

In a white frame a blue-green background decorated with small, white, dot-painted flowers the poster image for “Kohkom’s Babushka” appears. The cover features the colourful silhouette of a tied Babushka scarf. Inside the silhouette two girls stand on either side of a large tree. The title appears in bold purple lettering.

A quote in white text on a blue-green background decorated with small, white, dot-painted flowers reads, “Makuch and Ballendine became 'real-life best friends' after meeting in junior high in 2001, and their decades long friendship can be felt in every line of dialog. There is a realness to the girls, and their friendship, that gives the play much of its weight and strength.”

Jeremy Allard reviews Kohkom's Babushka by Lianna Makuch and Joleen Ballendine. A family-friendly theatrical adaptation of a children's book by the same name, Kohkom's Babushka takes on the challenging subject of Ukrainian-Metis reconciliation.

#metis #theatre

www.liisprii.ca/magazine/202...

I’m excited to announce that after almost a year of working in collaboration with MINI TIPI we are launching “JOY” on Thursday, October 23rd, 5-8pm in Ottawa.

We will also have a Special Collector’s Edition available while quantities last.

See you there!

New collection examines the continuum of life through the intimacy of poetry Métis writer Katherena Vermette says it is “incredibly humbling” when she considers that she’s here for only a finite amount of time.“When we think about what's most important, it ends up being our lo...

“procession talks about honouring those who've come before and making a space for those after. And that's really the premise of the whole book. How to be in that space in the middle.”

#Indigenous #Métis #books #poetry

EP 178 Adoption, Culture, and Identity (with guest Dr. Brittany Penner) Podcast Episode · Better Me · 2025-10-13 · 19m

Dr. Brittany Penner, an author and practicing family physician in Manitoba, joined me to talk about her new memoir, "Children Like Us: A Métis Woman's Memoir of Family, Identity and Walking Herself Home." #podcast #betterme #adoption #Métis

podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/e...